Generation Z Artists

Chapter 307 Trembling and Heroism
"Absolutely impossible!"

Before Patrice could speak, her third sister vehemently objected.

"The Palme d'Or should absolutely not be awarded to a teen romance film with such strong commercial appeal!"

Old Jiang wasn't intimidated at all and immediately retorted: "That's not some youth romance film, but a realistic drama reflecting the plight of marginalized groups!"
The two leads never even kissed. Love, my foot!

Among the judges present, some laughed, while others were taken aback.

Jiang Wen is truly capable of arguing unreasonably. How can such pure and touching youthful love not be considered love?

Fang Xinghe incorporated so many details of their interactions in the film, gradually transforming the need for mutual support into the budding love between young men and women. Every viewer who isn't blind is captivated by it; it's clearly a youth romance film.

At the very least, we can summarize the elements of youthful love.

Patrice had a terrible headache, pressed his temples, and rubbed the muddy water.

"Realism exists, and of course, youthful romance exists; these are not contradictory. The fundamental issue lies in the commercial aspects of filming techniques and pacing..."

You can't deny that now, can you?
"Less You" is more commercial than artistic; anyone with eyes can see that.

"Yes, it's too commercial!"

Claude Carrière was quite dissatisfied with the plot constructed by screenwriter Fang Xinghe, and he began to ramble on about it.

"SR wasted a great subject!"

What does true realism look like? Or, what is the most likely underlying human nature to be triggered?

Nian seeks Bei's protection, and Bei agrees because of her beauty. In despair, the former grasps at a straw, while the latter, amidst a complex mix of amazement, inferiority, and restlessness, comes into contact with him.

Then they will fall into the abyss together—

In the real world, a lone individual in the north is no match for gangs of thugs and hooligans.

Lai, with his resources, had countless ways to torment both of them.

SR still hasn't escaped the influence of Prince Yu, and he has transformed the weak orphan Bei into a war god!
But we've all seen those low-level thugs in the slums who depend on gangs for survival. They can gather dozens of people at any time, and if they really want to bully orphans and students, they only need to throw stones into their yards late at night to torment them.

Nian and Bei should have collapsed under such immense pressure.

Bei, driven by impulse and anger based on impotence, should force her into a relationship, and the two of them make love wildly in an environment filled with sadness and despair.

At first, Bei was violent, and Nian was resistant.

After that, Nian also started to throw caution to the wind and threw herself into it.

Finally, they returned from madness to emptiness, one sprawled out, the other curled up, the camera suspended overhead, shooting from directly above the bed.

In the frozen scene, Bei's eyes flickered with guilt, the girl's snow-white upper body trembled incessantly, and her long, uncut hair was spread out on the messy bed.

And when they make love again the next time, Nian has short hair. If you shoot a close-up long shot from the same camera angle, the impact of that contrast will kill the audience at the very bottom!
After that, due to Bei's inadequate protection, Nian's relationship with him fell into a freezing state.

Bei felt resentful and irritable, but then couldn't resist Lai's temptation and slept with her after drinking, making love wildly once again.

On that very day, Nian, all alone, was repeatedly humiliated all night by the thugs Lai had brought. After the thugs left triumphantly, she burst into tears in the toilet. Meanwhile, in the montage, Bei was experiencing ecstasy on Lai's body.

Can you imagine the impact of that parallel scene?

This is what a real young man is like!

They are reckless and impulsive, forever driven by hormones and emotions!
Of course, afterwards, Bei was very remorseful. He went home feeling very guilty and lied to Nian.

Nian looked at him coldly, then smiled faintly and responded with a lie in return.

I'm fine. I cried because I was scared. I miss you so much.

At this moment, Nian had already harbored extreme hatred for killing Lai. After a less-than-meticulous plan, she easily pushed Lai off the building—wasn't that more reasonable than accidentally killing him?

Then, she sought out Bei, using tears and love as weapons, and demanded that he take the blame for her.

Bei hesitated, but at the last moment, Nian told him affectionately: I am pregnant with your child, and I want to give birth to him.

In the interrogation room, the excited Bei withstood all the tests and pressure. A boy his age did not yet understand the meaning of the continuation of life. He was simply deeply immersed in the role, regarding his sacrifice as a landmark test of adulthood.

Of course, Nian did not reveal any flaws. Having experienced so much torment, her personality had long since deviated and fallen, awakening her innate intelligence and resilience.

The final scene should be Bei's fantasy as he accepts his execution: the adult Nian, holding the hand of a beautiful little girl, smiling happily.

After the montage, the filter becomes cold and austere. Nian walks out the door weakly yet resolutely, casually tossing a piece of paper into the wind.

The camera follows that page of paper, looking down at it.

The image swept across the hospital's cross, then across the street, then over the slums, and finally, the page flew to the bustling city center, just a street away from the slums, and landed slowly.

The camera zooms in, pointing directly at the paper.

That was a confirmation form for an abortion!

The movie ends here.

And you, my friends, will remember this movie forever with a profound sense of awe, and your hearts will ache slightly every time you think of it.

Because this is the real reality, not some other distorted version!
Although SR was born into the lower class, his living environment was too simple, and he never saw the true nature of humanity, making the whole movie seem like a fairy tale imagined by a hot-blooded young man.

How can a film like this deserve the Palme d'Or?

"Fuck me!"

Jiang Wen was stunned by Claude's dark version of "Less You," and his head was buzzing.

He only likes to play with metaphors in grand narratives and couldn't come up with such a wicked plot, but upon closer examination, one has to admit that Claude's idea has a higher probability of being realistic and ironic.

Steven Soderbergh was led astray by him and added his own comments with great interest.

"If we want to continue exploring the darkness of human nature, we can even design Bei to be more innocent, passionate, and kind, and place him in a more innocent situation."

Nian, on the other hand, was gradually distorted by external pressure, turning from limited use of him at the beginning into unlimited greedy exploitation.

The psychological development of a person in dire straits is almost always like this.

In this way, when Dang Nian completely destroys Xiao Bei, he will also completely kill his former self, thus transforming into a new darkness.

Wei Lai, as a bully, dies in revenge, and the avenger becomes a new source of evil, seemingly an endless cycle. This sense of fate will give the film a powerful impact and a cautionary value…

"Stop, stop, stop."

Meg Ryan frowned and raised her hand to signal to stop.

"I don't like your dark version. There is always baseness in human nature, but human nature is not only baseness."

You need to fully consider the target audience of the film. "Better Days" is made for teenagers. So how many of the 100 teenagers actually live in that hellish environment, and how many live in the sunshine?

What's the difference between taking a very few dark examples out of context and the dreamlike ending of SR?
Oh, there's a difference—you're more prejudiced and more arrogant.

Claude Carrière wasn't angry; he simply replied calmly, "They are both extremes, but Cannes' duty is to reward the more artistic one, isn't it?" He was right, actually.

Whether it's Cannes or Berlin, the European art world seems to prefer the darker side.

Patrice offered a philosophical summary: "Making people laugh is easy; any toilet joke will do, and the cruder the joke, the more effective it is. But making people truly sad requires far too much painful effort."

In the film and television industry, comedy is almost at the bottom of the hierarchy of tastes, while tragedy is considered artistic. This is not a rule imposed by anyone, but rather a result of the inherently different levels of difficulty between the two.

The neutral judges were swayed by this statement.

"really."

I agree with that statement.

The third sister immediately pressed her advantage: "So, since SR is more inclined to please the audience, then the final grand prize should not be awarded to him."

Jiang Wen was completely stunned.

From a director's perspective, he is the kind of person who least likes to pander to the audience.

His own philosophy is "I'll film my own movies, whether you understand them or not is up to you."

Therefore, he had no way to refute the other party's viewpoint from this perspective.

But from a Chinese perspective, he still wanted to continue to work hard and fight for Fang Xinghe.

It's not easy for a rising star like Fang to appear in the film industry. And with Fang's temper being so strong, if he feels it's unfair and decides to quit, it would be a huge loss for Chinese cinema.

But from which perspective can we improve our win rate now?
In his frantic state, a sudden inspiration struck him: he remembered the overwhelming propaganda in international newspapers over the past few days.

"The genius director Star River has made the best coming-of-age film ever."

A milestone in coming-of-age films, blending depth and hope, sadness and solace.

The genre of youth romance films is no longer a blank slate.

……

There were many press releases, all with similar angles, so Jiang Wen didn't read them carefully.

But now, he suddenly realizes that this is an advantage that cannot be ignored.

So he calmly said, "Have you all forgotten that 'Better Days' almost elevated youth films to another level? As a top classic in its genre, it will surely be remembered in film history the moment it is released. So I'm very curious, who should win the Palme d'Or to be convincing and avoid long-term controversy?"

The usually talkative third sister suddenly fell silent.

In the past, youth films have always been synonymous with immaturity and crudeness, with very low influence, and usually neither winning awards nor making a profit.

But now, "Better Days" has proven that youth films can be suitable for all ages, emphasizing both depth and emotion, and have become classics.

Regardless of external opinions, just looking at the contribution of "Better Days" to the world of film itself, it deserves a sufficiently prestigious award.

Otherwise, Cannes would become a laughing stock, and this year's jury would be nailed to the pillar of shame in film history.

"Ok."

After a long silence, Patrice slowly spoke.

"Let's put aside the debate about the Palme d'Or and Best Director for now, and consider 'Uzak' first. It deserves the Silver Palm, don't you think?"

Everyone agrees on this point.

Jiang Wen didn't care about the silver medal, and nobody cared about second place.

Therefore, before the Best Director award was even announced, "Uzak" was already on the list of contenders for the Grand Jury Prize.

Then came the final round, the longest and most drawn-out tug-of-war.

……

The details of the closed-door meeting are unknown to outsiders, but its outcome is unfolding at the awards ceremony.

When renowned French director Luc Besson took the stage with the envelope, the room fell silent once more.

He opened the envelope, glanced at it, and laughed.

However, knowing the importance of keeping people in suspense, he didn't look at any area, but instead began reading the commendation speech.

"The Best Director award is to recognize an individual director who has completed outstanding work and to announce to the film world that you have made incredible achievements in this position. Your films fully demonstrate your aesthetics, techniques, thoughts, and spirituality as a director."

At this point, you can already be called a master.

To date, Cannes has produced only 56 Best Directors, of whom only 37 are still alive, and even fewer are still producing films.

The youngest of them was Matthew Cassavetes, who directed "Hate." When he won the Best Director award in 1995, he was as young as a child—only 28 years old.

In the field of directing, this is already an astonishing display of talent…

As the commendation speech reached this point, the room erupted in excitement.

Everyone turned to look at Fang Xinghe's location, a mixture of astonishment, curses, and praise erupting into chaos.

Upon seeing this, Luc Besson immediately sped up his reading of the manuscript.

"Now, a younger director has come to Cannes with a film that is so mature that it doesn't seem like a new work from a newcomer, bringing us a strong shock and a delightful sense of discovery."

His works are grand yet delicate, profound in theme but not indulging in profundity, and austere in imagery but not overly forceful, ultimately adding a unique and uplifting quality to the films beyond mere technique.

Therefore, despite its more commercial attributes and smoother progression in structure and technique, it is still regarded by us as a special auteur film.

What is auteur cinema?
A film that bears the distinct personal characteristics of the director, a film that others cannot make, or that makes a film with the wrong feel.

Personally, I don't think any other great director could capture the essence of this film.

That's remarkable. I mean, for someone his age to be able to complete such a genre masterpiece, so full of personal sentiment, with such mature technique and narrative is truly remarkable.

So, the winner of Best Director at the 56th Cannes Film Festival is… would you like me to shout it out?

At a crucial moment, Luc Besson suddenly made a cheeky remark.

Suddenly, a deafening shout erupted in the hall.

"Star River!"

In this atmosphere, Luc Besson then followed suit, passionately and clearly proclaiming the Chinese name of the Best Director winner—

"YES! Fang! Star! River!"

"Congratulations on winning the award! You are the youngest Best Director at Cannes, the youngest European director to win one of the top three Best Director awards worldwide, and the youngest Best Director at an A-list film festival in the history of cinema!"

Fang Xinghe stood up amidst applause and shouts. Before he even took his first step, the tremor from his feet spread throughout his body, bringing both fear and pride.

(End of this chapter)